Dances of the Dead
by trashyindulgence
Summary: Though she only just recently died, is there a good reason for her replacing Saionji Hiyoko's conscious? The story of SDR2 has just begun, and Saionji, she supposes her name is now, will try and redeem herself and play the role of the SHSL Classical Dancer. Long periods of nothing, however, really dull one's moral code...
1. Prologue

It's pitch black.

It's pitch black, and she, if she even is a she, can't feel anything.

Dead, dead, dead. Is that all she was now? Is this it?

Disappointment. This feeling is disappointment. She'd hadn't even lived that long either.

Just a little more. Just a little bit more..

She hadn't even finished that new game she got..

* * *

After a long period of nothing, she could suddenly _feel._

A body. A new one. Untouched, unharmed, _alive._

But strange. It was clothed in an orange material, and well.. The outfit seemed familiar to her all in all.

Gingerly, she touches her hair, feeling it's curves and shape. It's blond.

Huh? She's also rather small, isn't she? These sleeves are very long.

It's a kimono. She always wanted to wear one. The pattern is lovely. Exactly like Saionji's..

Hm?

Hm? Hmm?

This.. This turn of events..

Like one of those reincarnation light novels. And when those didn't update, she went to self inserts.

I-If this is a thing, then who's the one who put her here? Wasn't there always this higher authority? Or an enemy?

She squishes down the urge to scream. That would be a terrible first impression to put on people.

Speaking of which, would there even be people here at this point? What part of the timeline was she on? Is it after, before, or just starting?

Oh.. There's a door there. The door at the beginning of the game. Did that just materialize? The background changed too.

This means she just started? Oh dear. She hopes she isn't the last one in.

Being late to _anything_ absolutely terrified her.

Sliding the door open, she's greeted by the relieving yet alarming sight of a few other students.

Togami Byakuya, Nanami Chiaki, and Komaeda Nagito.

 _The first victim, the AI, and the popular trash of the franchise._

 _What are the chances?_

"Hm? You must also be our classmate. State your name and talent."

Hwuah?! O-oh! Introductions. Right. She was Saionji Hiyoko, SHSL Classical Dancer, now! Okay, calm, calm...

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Saionji Hiyoko, Super High School Level Classical Dancer. And you?"

Ah. She already messed up. Saionji was supposed to be cutesy and innocent at first glance. Her polite way of speaking, the graceful bow she gave, the friendly smile used for business... It gave the image of a mature lady who was unfortunate enough to be trapped in a childish body.

Which actually _was_ the situation here, though they didn't need to know. She severely doubted they'd be able to guess her obscure situation anyway.

Togami, the one who spoke out, looked a bit surprised, but hurriedly recovered and introduced himself. Saionji (she took up the name of her vessel far too happily ) received the names of the the other occupants of the room, as well as their titles.

 _Well, she already knew though..._

Settling herself down into one of the many seats of the classroom, the supposed dancer made idle chat with the males. Eventually, the empty place began to fill with the eccentric characters she knew _far_ too much about. It felt unreal, too much like a dream, even though she accepted her death in the time of darkness she had. Oh well. Might as well enjoy herself.

She began fidgeting in her seat, feeling slightly nervous. Pretty soon, the protagonist would walk in, and everything would begin. Hopefully not much would change if Saionji matured mentally...

* * *

Well, this is something.

She knew Hinata fainted after coming to the island, but that didn't make any less alarming to watch.

 _Hinata, you looked really uncool just now...!_

And here she is, hovering over the unconscious form of the protagonist with a soon-to-be threat.

Maybe she should've gone off to the farm place when she had the chance? Saionji's not supposed to be in this scene..

"Hey... Can you hear me...?"

Ooh! Komaeda's trying to talk to him! This is it, this is it! Ah, Hinata's opening his eyes.

"Hey, are you alright? ...You sure look exhausted. I am too, you know. We all are. I mean, with all the crazy stuff that happened..."

Hinata's squinting eyes are kind of intimidating.. Please don't get mad.

"...Hey, are you listening?"

His expression hardens as he sluggishly gets up. Saionji decides to shuffle a bit behind Komaeda.

"You... _are_ okay, right?"

"...I... Leave me alone."

"Oh, I couldn't possibly leave someone who looks as sick as you alone."

The sickly teen glances at her. Does he want her to say something?

"W-we were really worried when you fainted. You surprised a good deal of us, actually."

The dancer mentally scolds herself for stuttering, covering her mouth with her hand, which is gripping the edge of her kimono sleeve.

Hinata doesn't look very friendly when he's annoyed. It can't be helped she's a little scared for her new body.

"That... _thing_ said we're on a southern island, didn't it?"

"...Yeah, that's right."

Both of them are silent. Hinata seems to be going through the tutorial part, since he's surveying the area with a cautious glint in his eye.

"Hm? This is a camera isn't it? ...A security camera? Are they spying on us?!"

Uwah! Abruptly shouting in alarm like that all of the sudden..!

"I wouldn't call it spying...I think you could say they're watching over us to keep us from danger... But hey, you can't help but feel worried over things you have no control over, can you?"

The brown-haired boy looks a bit scandalized.

"So, how about it? Are you feeling any better? ...Um, I know you're all messed up right because of what happened, but... We should all really introduce ourselves, don't you think?"

"Yeah... I guess we should."

Wait. Saionji just realized she has barely said anything since they started talking. She spoke only once. It's true she prefers being a spectator, though she doubts she can sneak away at this point.

Komaeda turns his head to her, gesturing for her to start first. You...! Putting her on the spot like this! They're both looking at her expectantly. Too late to run.

"My name is Saionji Hiyoko, Super High School Level Classical Dancer. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The hooded student gets a bit closer to the other male, seemingly talking about her vessel's past accomplishments. She flashes Hinata a friendly smile. It would be good to get along with the protagonist... It would be vastly easier to ask him to do certain things to help the eventual investigations with his trust.

The luckster comes back to the spot he was previously in, about to introduce himself. Then, a chime comes from both Hinata's and her's Electronic Student Handbooks. Hinata is startled, and instantly there's Usami, explaining everything. Truthfully, she likes Usami. Maybe it's because it could've been Naegi who designed her. It's pretty funny to think of Naegi showing Kirigiri and Togami his design, with the two of them blank-faced.

The dancer then zones out a bit, coming back to Earth when Usami leaves, and Komaeda finishes talking about himself.

"Well, it's your turn now."

"Oh. My name's Hinata Hajime."

"...I have a question, Hinata-kun. What kind of Super High School Level ability do you have?"

"Um, I... I... I... Huh...?"

Watching his body forcibly shiver scared her a little, honestly. So much so, in fact, she butted into the conversation.

"Are you alright?! If need be, you should lie down..."

Oh. Whoops. Even Komaeda looks surprised at her sudden outburst. Thinking back, she gave the image of a composed young child who didn't talk too much with how she's acted so far.

"What? N-No...! I, I think I'm still a little bit confused... I... can't seem to remember very well..."

Komaeda turns back to the now-amnesiac with a bit of concern.

"You can't remember...? I suppose... with everything that's happened, some memory loss isn't _that_ strange. I'm sure it's just shock or something... I'm sure you'll recover soon! So... try not to worry too much, okay?"

"Yeah... I guess."

Once again, she interrupts. Adding in a couple lines every now and then won't affect the plot much. And this is to make sure they know she's here. Or does she not want them to? Oh well.

"Please let us now if you aren't feeling well. There isn't much I can do, but..."

"Ah, yeah, thanks. I will."

She smiles, which gets a small one from him. Ahh... Hinata smiling is going to be a very rare sight from here on out. Shame. It's quite lovely.

"Well..." Komaeda begins. "It looks like we're done with our introductions. I'm not sure what's going on, but I hope we can be friends."

The chimes of the collected Hope Shards rings out, but the two of them ignore it for now. The dancer is a bit eager to get past this phase of the story.

"Hinata-san, you still have yet to meet everyone, so why don't we seek them out? It's a little hard to do anything when surrounded by eccentric strangers.."

"Oh, I probably should. But, where did they all go?"

"I think they're still exploring the island."

"Are you serious? They all went exploring?"

"We're been told to live here, so everyone figured we should probably get a feel for the place. What kind of island is this? Is there a way off? Do we have food and supplies? Anyway, why not look around yourself, and make introductions while you're at it? I've already spoken to everyone, but I'd like to tag along while you explore, if that's okay. What about you?"

He suddenly turns to her for an answer after explaining the situation. Stop with this abrupt questioning..!

"Mm.. I'd like to go along too, if that's alright. I haven't left this beach since we've got here," _Because I was looking after a certain person._ "But I was introduced to everyone earlier."

...Hey, why wasn't Tsumiki concerned about Hinata collapsing? She's a nurse, isn't she? Oh, well, Hinata looks a little sheepish at her words. So he does understand.

"Let's all go then!"

Komaeda starts to walk off, Saionji trailing behind, then stops when he realize the other male isn't moving.

"What's wrong, Hinata-kun? We should go."

"Y-yeah."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot..." He pulls out his handbook. "There's a map of the island in our handbooks. Exploring the island will be very easy if we use it!"

Putting it back in his pocket, he continues.

"Also, I ah... I looked up information about everyone before I came to this school. I can tell you some useful stuff about most of them. Not all of them, though."

"...You mean, you actually found information about them on the web?"

"Eh? You don't know? Whenever Hope's Peak Academy recruits a new class, the message boards go a bit crazy..."

And again, she zones this out. Soon enough, they're off to meet everyone. The game's prologue was quite long... She should enjoy this peace while it lasts, shouldn't she?

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* * *

ahh well... i'm new to all this so be gentle. i literally have almost _no clue_ how to work this document stuff. and this fic is purely to satisfy my desire to use this website's format of writing to write something and to write a sort-of-self-insert-but-kind-of-not since there aren't many i like out there and my reincarnation novels are slow to update...


	2. Prologue - Introductions

**(** _It's a little late, but there are most definitely spoilers for the first and second games! I also don't own the Dangan Ronpa franchise, just in case._ **)**

* * *

Saionji feels a bit... uncomfortable.

Komaeda is smiling, but Hinata is glaring at everything like it ruined his life.

Which it did, in a way, she supposes. He's trapped here and in a couple days, she thinks, he'll experience his first murder! Oh, she pities this poor protagonist. The twin-tailed girl decides to try and hold his hand through most of it. Tutorial case, right? Right.

The scenery is quite lovely, though. Peaceful, and light. However, the island is a bit too big for her tastes. Although fit enough, her body is trained for graceful movements and the sort. Walking long ways from one island to another.. she's not certain of it's capabilities and limits. Whoever she used to be, or still is, literally took over this vessel a couple hours ago. Forgive her if she doesn't know how to control it.

Thinking about it now, this scene is pretty strange. The dancer is a head shorter than both of these teens. Wasn't Saionji the shortest character in both DR and SDR2? Everyone in this place is taller than her.

That's.

Oh.

Suddenly, she has possibly been made into the weakest character in the current story. No wonder her personality was terrible.. It was her only real defense mechanism. Everything has gotten harder. She'll have to think about the consequences of her actions even further.

It'll be troublesome if she's seen as a threat, after all.

* * *

Admittedly, she doesn't particularly care about Gundam or Souda.

If she can remember correctly, Saionji was cruel to Souda. Often picking on him for being a coward and the like. Not that she plans to follow the original in that respect. Souda is just... adolescent. Young. Sure, his behavior towards Sonia is discomforting, but he'll grow out of it! ..Maybe. There's a lot of hope going into this. And hopefully, she'll live to see him become a better person.

Gundam is.. well, there wasn't anything concerning both Saionji and Gundam that sticks out to her. Perhaps she teased him slightly or did so under her breath originally, otherwise she's free to basically ignore or indulge him. Most likely indulge. This is a guy who is capable of murder. Although, most of the students here are. Do Super High Schoolers tend to be dangerous? With the right motives, it's impressive how they'll go from "I won't murder for sure!" to "I just killed someone and I'm hoping everyone else dies for me too." Scary.

* * *

Tsumiki...

Honestly, when she first met the nurse, the feeling of dread that filled her was ridiculous.

It's justified, though! In time, the third case will come, and Tsumiki will kill anyone who sees what she will do to Ibuki.

And Saionji just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Now, it should be fine if she doesn't get killed that day. Apparently, according to some trivia she had once read, Saionji only died so Kuzuryuu would live. He was going to die, but the developers realized that would mean Pekoyama died for nothing. So, Saionji, who was supposed to survive with the rest of the group, was killed off to even things out. Which is why they never bothered to find the weapon which ended her during the case.

How cruel...

But watching Tsumiki burst into tears over something as simple as assuming she was friends with Hinata...

You manipulative vixen. It can't be helped her maternal instincts are acting up.

 _That doesn't quite make sense actually-_

So while Hinata awkwardly turns away from the sobbing mess of a nurse with Komaeda continually smiling, she's trying to comfort the poor girl.

"Tsumiki-san, I'm sure Hinata-san doesn't hate you..!"

"H-huh?" Don't sound so surprised! Does he really look that bad- _Aah..._ Nevermind. He hasn't really accepted being stuck here yet.

"You're a very likeable person, okay? No one here hates you, I promise." Should Saionji ever have a motherly tone? This feels a bit surreal.

"U-um, do you really think that...?" She meeps out a stuttered "I'm sorry for doubting you!" but the dancer brushes that off.

"Of course! And if someone doesn't like you, come to me. I'll always be here for you, alright, Tsumiki-san? I'm... your friend." Is she helping at all? It doesn't quite feel like she is. Would smiling help? She tries a smile.

There's a spark in Tsumiki's eyes, and some sort of dam breaks. The dancer can hear Hinata and Komaeda talking to Ibuki under the sobs of her now-friend.

"U-uuu... Thank you so.. so very much! I'll do anything you say, so..." There was an attempt for further conversation, which was abruptly cut off by her cries, and though the nurse's words are a mess, Saionji finds this girl strangely enduring. She decides to rub the girl's cheek. Shush, okay? She can't reach very far.

The action seems to provoke some sort of need to cling to her vessel, because that's happening currently. It's at this moment the blond realizes how big Tsumiki's... _assets_ are. Well, at least she can properly rub her head now. The chime of a hope shard can be heard.

Hinata and Komaeda come to get her back to continue their investigation of the island after a couple minutes.

* * *

Internal screaming helps a bit with crippling fear, she has discovered.

Nekomaru Nidai is a force to be reckoned with. During their first meeting, he seemed understanding of her stamina and the such, most likely due to the fact that she was a dancer. Screaming out a greeting isn't something someone of her profession should be doing. He gets that, and she appreciates it greatly, respecting him all the while. Watching him yell at Hinata, though, with an extremely loud voice...

Put that with the fact that she's only to his _crotch..._

Her fear is immense and her ears are practically broken at this point.

She's clenching to Komaeda's jacket with a forced smile. Taking a glance at the luckster, his face seems awed. At how noisy Nidai is, probably. Afterwards, he goes off about the coach's achievements. Hinata's face of disbelief is amazing. No doubt she'll be seeing it often.

Next is Kuzuryuu, who has been idling around the area for some reason. Convenient that there's people in every location, huh?

Oh? Why does he look so confused? Instead of rudely telling them to go away, he's silent and only hesitantly gives them his name when asked with a suspicious look and a tensed stance.

That's not right.. He should be getting aggressive. Is this due to Saionji's replacement? As Komaeda leans in to quietly help Hinata realize who they're dealing with, she stares at him. He's nervous. Nervous under her stare. Inexperienced.

Hm... She slightly hopes he'll remain like this in the long run.

Kuzuryuu flinches and he sharply intakes. What sort of look is she giving him right now to invoke that kind of reaction?

The sick teen calls out her name, and they're off to talk to Koizumi. Kuzuryuu only watches them go past him with slight _fear?_

Her attention snaps back to the photographer when she reminds Hinata of his really _uncool_ moment.

"A man shouldn't be so fragile, you know? It's your job to protect us girls at a time like this, isn't it? Instead, you have a nice girl like Saionji-chan looking after you from the get-go..." And for most of the time they're here, just to make things go a little more smoothly.

She doesn't seem vital to this conversation, so instead she ponders about her relation to Koizumi.

They're supposed to bond over her inability to tie an obi, she gets attached, and then Chapter 2 will hit. Hard.

Koizumi will be murdered, and she'll be framed for it. Chapter 2 is a rather important part of her character, as well. Saionji is supposed to decide to become a better person after an incident with Kuzuryuu.

Wait a second. The game Twilight Syndrome, the second motive that will lead to Koizumi's and Pekoyama's death...

It should have Saionji as one of the girls. Saionji, whose demeanor is supposed to be cruel and childish, but is now calm and mature. Complications will arise, surely. They'll question why she isn't like she is in the game. The only explanation she can think of on the spot is that something happened at the school that changed her personality so drastically. No no, she'll have to be more hesitant, right? She'll have to be as confused and shocked as the others.

Unless this body was always her's, and that her memory has been altered the same way everyone else's has been...

...She'll think about something so stress-inducing when it comes to it.

* * *

Should she be a little concerned about her lack of feeling towards everyone? They were the only things she could remember since she died, so anything remembered was desperately clung to. One would think she'd gain some sort of affection for any of them... Clearly not, though.

Nanami Chiaki gives herself up as the traitor during Chapter 5, gaining popularity among the fandom for her cute looks and personality and actions. She's very helpful during investigations and trials, essentially filling the role of Kirigiri of the first game. Except less mysterious and more willing to assist. Otherwise, Saionji can't really remember much else about her.

And Pekoyama isn't that important, really. She wasn't there for the first investigation, and doesn't live past the second due to being the murderer. Thanks to that, nothing is really pushing her to be concerned about this swordswomen. Unless Saionji acts different in Twilight Syndrome, and does something that pushes Pekoyama to kill her instead of Koizumi... She should really be fine.

For now, she should start looking into where Saionji's favorite gummy bears are...

* * *

What a strange person.

Okay, everyone here is strange, but perhaps _perverted_ would be a better word.

Teruteru is the first murderer. He tries to stop Komaeda, but ends up killing Togami instead and gets executed for it. He's a mother's boy, is terribly perverted, and the greatest high schooler cook. And that's it.

Saionji doesn't particularly have an opinion on him or Togami. Died too early, the two of them. Never had a proper opinion since they're used to teach you the ropes and show what sort of game players are dealing with. Everyone tended to move on fairly quickly from their deaths. Nothing tearjerking was revealed, after all.

However, to her classmates, it'll be their first deaths of many. It'll be the event that makes them realize the kind of world they're in, how fragile life is and how easily it can be snatched away... Oh, she's looking forward to this just a bit. Maybe a bit of Saionji's original personality stuck with her...

Then, there's Sonia. The Maizono of the group, although she survives the whole ordeal with one case that left the fandom scrambling to create fanworks of. She found Gundam's behavior intriguing, firmly rooting herself as one of his friends. However, Saionji's knowledge of the game goes only to Komaeda's death, which is a bit fuzzy in itself. Anything beyond that is just spoilers she saw from fan creations and canon cgs. It's a bit of a disadvantage, but change should happen if she survives Chapter 3 anyway.

Souda also finds Sonia very, very attractive. Often enough, he's defending her for idiotic reasons and most of the time, being flat out ignored by her. Kind of pitiful. Otherwise, Saionji has no interest in Sonia until far, far later.

* * *

Ignoring the recent occurrence of a chicken becoming a cow...

( which was scary, honestly, but hinata's reaction calmed her down and she actually _laughed_ and heard a chuckle from komaeda too )

Akane is, well, even less than Sonia to her. She becomes sparring buddies with Nidai, and Nidai becomes a robot to protect her. After that, he dies and she gets emotional about it. Maybe. Chapter 5 is a little blurry. Anyways, she's another survivor, and helps Hinata once in Chapter 2... And that's all the important things she can remember Akane doing.

Also, there seems to be ants over there. The ants Saionji was supposed to popping, no doubt. She can't turn back the clock and restart her introduction now, though, so she'll just have to roll with her decisions.

* * *

This Togami is a great actor. Completely deserving of the title "Imposter". They're also the one who takes the leadership role, only to be the first to die. She respects this person. Part of her even wishes to befriend them. They're lonely, according to her memory, and being their friend would be painful in the long run but... Granting a person a little bit of happiness before they disappear surely can't be such a bad thing. Selfish of her, but do people really think she cares about that sort of thing when she's dead?

After a long period of thinking, thinking, and nothing but _thinking_ , her mental strength has seemingly broken and fortified at the same time.

Walking to the beach with her male companions, the dancer's small smile is hidden by her kimono sleeve.

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* * *

i did it! i updated! i'm honestly very happy that i got people following this story already. reviews are also very nice to read? is this what it feels like to be a fanfiction writer? anyways, i've planned this story from start to finish, but there's just one. thing. i actually added something last minute in planning which will, no doubt, change quite a bit. i'm a little scared for how this will turn out, but it'll be made clear during the second case, hopefully!


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